A Good Idea (A Leo x Rachel One-Shot)
by pen.maiden.myself
Summary: I gulped and looked into the mirror. Mirror Leo was straightening his black bowtie, and looked odd with his unruly dark hair combed down to the side. Jason kept saying that Mirror Leo looked great, but I couldn't help but think that I looked like Festus's torso which had been destroyed a few months ago. Sorry, Festus. (One-Shot)


_Author's Note: Originally found on my Tumblr, theauthorjen._

* * *

Rachel Elizabeth Dare. I was actually going on a date with Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

I gulped and looked into the mirror. Mirror Leo was straightening his black bowtie, and looked odd with his unruly dark hair combed down to the side. Jason kept saying that Mirror Leo looked great, but I couldn't help but think that I looked like Festus's torso which had been destroyed a few months ago. Sorry, Festus.

Jason chuckled from where he stood behind me. "You look like you're being doused in Greek fire, Leo. Relax a little bit. Girls aren't creatures to be feared. Well… sometimes, but not usually,"

Thanks, dude.

"But this is Rachel." I said, finally realizing that Mirror Leo would never look any better than he did now. I turned around to face Jason. The blonde was grinning at me. He obviously didn't realize how serious this date was. "She's the freaking Oracle, Jason. What if she decides that the middle of her family's fancy dinner thing is the perfect time to spout out a rhyme about how I'm going to die?" I shuddered at the thought. It wasn't impossible, nor was it unlikely. And to add to my discomfort, Jason had made me take off my magical tool belt for the fancy occasion. Seriously, man? The fancy people were definitely going to stare at me as my fingers fumbled around my hips aimlessly, searching for things that weren't even there.

"Hey, you've gotta remember who my girlfriend is." Jason pointed out, speaking of our friend (well, his more-than-friend) Piper. "She's not exactly a delicate maiden, but at least she hasn't tried to kill me yet."

"Yet," I muttered.

Jason laughed and clapped his hand against my back. "Come on, man. You should probably get to the grand Oracle's ride before she does. As strange as it is, girls actually care about guys opening doors for them." He had a point.

I dashed out of the hotel room and into the elevator. Thankfully, most of the out-of-town guests for this fancy dinner the Dares were holding got to stay in this hotel for free. I think the idea was that the other rich people would feel more obligated to give lots of money at the charity dinner if their rooms were paid for. But I was just going to be cheap and take advantage of this dinner in order to hang out with Rachel.

I dashed out of the hotel's chrome-gilded front doors (it was poor workmanship by the way, I would have done a far better job on those doors) and out to a car that was waiting only a few feet away. My heart leapt to my throat when I saw that Rachel was already out there, standing next to the car in a seriously hot light blue dress that sparkled in the street lamp light. I could feel my brain starting to turn into mush.

"You're late, Valdez," I would have been scared at these words if I hadn't seen the smirky little smile that was tugging on the edges of Rachel's mouth. _Calm down, Leo, _I told my racing heart, _See? Rachel's happy to go out with you. It'll be fun. She likes you. She won't foresee your death while you're eating expensive shrimp and that fancy red sauce._

"Yeah, sorry about that," I scratched the back of my head, but immediately stopped when I remembered what Jason had told me: stay calm, they can sense it if you're nervous.

She smiled at me, for real this time. "Aren't you going to open the door?"

"Oh, yeah, right!" I quickly reached over and opened the car door. Rachel slid into the chair with ease, smoothing down her skirt with her Oracle-y hands as she went. How could she be so calm?

I walked to the other side of the car, a black Ford Fiesta. After getting in and starting the car up, I remembered that Rachel was an actual human being, not just a terrifying girl/Oracle who I was taking to a fancy dinner.

"Hey, uh, Rachel?"

She turned and smiled at me. "Yes, Leo?"

My face was turning red. I could feel it. Ugh, this was so embarrassing. Even so, I forced myself to speak.

"I, um… I'm glad we're doing this. Like, you know, I'm glad that we can hang out and stuff. Not that we don't already, just that we can hang out somewhere else, you know? Like, uh… together." My face was beet red. Well, that had failed.

But Rachel gracefully ignored my awkwardness. I hadn't seen her do that before.

"I'm glad too, Leo." A foxy little smirk appeared on her face, and before I knew what was happening, she leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. Now I felt like my face was exploding.

She smiled and sat back down regularly in her seat, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. "You should probably start driving, eh Valdez?"

"Uh, right," I tightened my hands on the steering wheel and stepped on the gas pedal. Somehow, Rachel's kiss had managed to take away my dread about this date. Maybe this was actually a good idea.

Nah, it _definitely _was a good idea.


End file.
